Casey Jr's Coming Down the Track

Today's post is devoted to another form of transport, arguably Uncle Walt's favourite, the steam train. Specifically the Walt Disney World Railroad which I mentioned briefly when I was talking about Pirates of the Caribbean.

Before I start talking about the railroad itself I want to quickly mention Main Street USA which in terms of planning and construction is one of the places that I love looking at the most. I remember as a kid visiting the Penny Arcade and playing with the machines with my dad. The Penny Arcade has long since gone but there is still one (sort of) over in Disneyland and when I went with my friends, David, Ryan and Deborah, back in 2006 we spent a good 30 mins playing on the machines. Now as I have mentioned many a time I was (oooo! Past tense!) studying film at uni. One of the classes I took was "The History of Silent Cinema" which may seem boring to most people but I loved it, mostly because we talked about a lot of history and old theatres. One thing that came up was Nickelodeons (Not the tv channel!) where you could watch primitive movies on Kinetoscopes that are kind of like a mechanical flip book with photographs. Suddenly the memories of the Penny Arcade came flooding back. The building itself may now be shops but some of the machines still live on at the Magic Kingdom in the Main Street Train Station so if you ever have a spare few minutes go and check them out.

The easiest way to talk about the railroad is to show it to you so please seat small children on the inside of the carriages, keep your hands and arms inside the train and remain seated at all times. All aboard the Walt Disney World Railroad!

I hope you enjoyed that brief pictorial tour of the railroad. If it's ever a little wet or you just want to take a moment away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the park then hop on board the train. If you're really interested in the world of Disney steam trains then there's a tour you can do at the Magic Kingdom.

Here's a video that Disney made about the Disneyland Railroad...

I actually live near a steam train line at home and they're amazing pieces of machinery so whether you're into trains or not they're definitely not to be overlooked!

Next time: All the birds sing words and the flowers croon...